Tag Archives: lulu

The Real Gone End Of Year Round-Up, 2025

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We’ve reached the end of another year, and for Real Gone, 2025 was a special one. Not only did we celebrate our sixteenth year online, but we gained a truckload of new and regular supporters – both from an industry perspective and in terms of regular readership. Our visitor stats have seen a huge increase on 2024, and the materials we’ve been sent for review have been more varied than ever.

We’ve heard a lot of enjoyable albums and EPs over the past twelve months, but as is traditional, we’ve whittled our favourites down to ten, and then given a well deserved shout out to a few titles we think are also worth checking out. As always, our picks for the best of the year are limited to releases we actually reviewed – it’s only fair. We hope you’ll check out some of the artists and releases featured below, if you’ve not already done so.

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LÙLÙ – Lùlù

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When French band Lùlù released their eponymously named debut single in the closing weeks of 2024, it felt like the most exciting thing to happen to the power pop world since Gavin Bowles & The Distractions released their debut LP a year earlier, or possibly even since The Shang Hi Los released ‘Aces, Eights & Heartbreaks’ in January 2023. It’s not even that the track broke new ground; far from it, in fact. Its all round brilliance came from a desire to work squarely within a classic style.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #102

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Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that’ve landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. For our rock loving regulars, this selection offers a great track from Fen man Doug Harrison and some alternative leanings from an up and coming Scottish band. Exploring other genres, there’s a perfect slice of folk, some twisted pop, and even a slab of synth pop from a familiar figure. As always, this is just a small selection of the recent submissions and there will be many more singles shared in the near future. In the meantime, we hope you find something new to enjoy…

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #99

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This week’s Singles Bar features a wealth of different musical styles. A dip into the world of melodic punk brings a fresh take on a well known tune, a melodic rock band bring a massive 90s vibe on a very strong track, and a singer songwriter blends soul, pop and world music on a brilliantly understated performance. Elsewhere, you’ll find a fun country tune, a huge sounding throwback to the grunge glory days, and more besides. It’s a selection that, hopefully, will share something of interest for most listeners… As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!

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The Great 70s Project: 1974

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Maybe as a reaction to the previous year, though maybe just coincidence, 1974 didn’t have the all round focus of it’s forebears.  Whereas 1973 had been a home to various albums that have spanned generations, ’74’s best strengths were in the singles market.

Bowie’s escalating drug habit left him with ideas of an unfinished musical and an album that’s arguably his most unfocused of the decade.  ‘Rebel Rebel’, however, remains a great and enduring single cut, brimming with the last vestiges of glam.  Lulu did an excellent job of covering ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ and ‘Watch That Man’, filling both sides of an essential 7″, Ace’s ‘How Long’ – while easily dismissed as soft radio filler has stood the test of time and now sounds like a near perfect piece of songcraft, while everyone’s favourite ragamuffin, David Essex, topped the UK chart with a smart and disposable single about making disposable pop music.

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